1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to artificial Christmas trees for the purpose of holding a plurality of decorative ornaments. More specifically, the present invention incorporates the use of animal antlers or imitation versions thereof as branches of the tree to give the tree additional support when holding a multitude of decorative Christmas ornaments.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tree decorating is a tradition that has long been practiced by many individuals who celebrate the holiday of Christmas. Christmas is a revered time of year because of activities such as these. Some individuals choose to use a real tree for their holiday festivities, while others prefer the ease and reusability of artificial tree devices. One desirable feature of having a real tree for the holidays is that a real tree gives a home a piney holiday scent. Unfortunately, a real tree can also be messy and many individuals do not enjoy or appreciate the inconvenient consequences of using a real Christmas tree indoors over a prolonged period. There are many problems associated with real trees; e.g., maintaining the tree during the holiday season, cleaning up pine needles that have fallen off the tree and on the floor and the possibility that sap from the tree may be tracked onto furniture or the floor. Further still, the load carrying capacity of real trees limbs may be inadequate for larger ornaments or a large number thereof.
Artificial trees provide a convenient solution to many of these common problems. The options available when it comes to selecting an artificial tree are immense. Some are designed to imitate real trees, equipped with artificial branches and needles, while others do not represent any natural features of a tree in the flora sense of the word. Most artificial trees employ similar design elements for the purpose of providing a deconstructable tree structure with fake limbs, branches and a main tree trunk. Some provide built-in lights, candle holders and some are designed to hold ornaments, cards or holiday candy using a specific receptacle. The present invention is designed to provide a novelty outdoorsman Christmas tree that is adapted to hold a plurality of ornaments using both artificial tree limbs and imbedded animal antlers. The present tree provides both utility in the form of larger load capacity for larger ornaments, while providing hunters, outdoorsman and enthusiasts with a uniquely structured tree device.
Patents have been granted for many Christmas tree devices or for those that provide an artificial alternative to a real tree that has been cut and decorated. Some of the prior art patents describe devices that are designed to hold ornaments, while others provided imbedded features that are inherently ornamental or illuminating. These prior art devices have several known drawbacks. For example, they are limited in their ability to provide additional support for heavier ornaments and a plurality thereof, and further do not provide novelty design aspects that are particularly suited for outdoorsman and animal hunting enthusiasts.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,194 to Liang describes a device designed to resemble a Christmas tree. The device consists of a central shaft securely attached to a base. The central shaft serves as the tree trunk of the device. Loops of wire, which are oval in shape, serve as the device's tree branches. Smaller loop branches are located closer to the top of the central shaft tree trunk and the loops get gradually larger closer to the bottom of the device, resulting in an overall cone-shaped tree. Each wire loop branch is physically attached to the central shaft tree trunk.
The Liang device's tree branches are comprised of two wires; the first is the previously describe wire loop, which gives the branch its overall oval shape, and a second wire coiled around the first wire loop. The coiled wire wraps around the wire loop branch to create a multitude of small protrusions from the wire loop. The coiled wire is secured to the wire loop so that the coils extend outward further from the center of the loop branch than the wire loop. The purpose of the coils is to simulate the leaves, or pine needles, of a Christmas tree. The construction of the Liang device's tree branches facilitates the hanging of ornaments from either the wire loop branches or the coiled wire leaves. It is recommended that heavier ornaments be hung from the wire loop branches of the device, while lighter ornaments can be hung from the coiled wire leaves.
The Liang device requires a user to carefully monitor where he or she hangs a specific Christmas ornament based on the weight of the ornament, suggesting that the tree is not designed to accommodate a multitude of decorative ornaments, especially a multitude of heavy ornaments on a single branch. The present invention is designed for hanging a plurality of Christmas ornaments, wherever a user chooses, on the incorporated imitation animal antlers branches. The antlers are specifically designed to hold multiple heavy ornaments per antler and will maintain structural integrity under the weight of the ornaments.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,951,303 to Hovlid describes a Christmas card holder device that is designed to resemble a Christmas tree when Christmas cards are attached to the device. When a user receives Christmas cards in the mail or from visiting friends and family, the cards can be displayed all season long in a festive and decorative way. The display tree device consists of a central metal shaft for supporting a wire spiral attached to at the top of the shaft, which wraps downward around the center shaft, with the radius of the spiral getting wider as the spiral gets closer to the ground, resulting in a cone-shaped structure similar to the shape of a Christmas tree. A plurality of small clips attach to the metal spiral of the device for clipping the Christmas cards to the display device. A second embodiment of the Hovlid device describes the same device, but instead of holding Christmas cards, the clips are used to hold Christmas ornaments so that the Christmas ornaments can be displayed on the tree device in a decorative way.
The present invention provides a new and improved artificial Christmas tree having unique ornament support elements and features resembling animal antlers attached to the trunk of the tree as would a normal tree branch. In this way, artificial tree branches and antlers extend from the trunk and provide a means to support ornaments thereon. The overall look of the tree is one that is uniquely appealing to outdoorsman and hunters, and is one that can be quickly and easily assembled using no special tools. The elements of the present invention substantially diverges in design from the prior art, and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing artificial Christmas tree devices. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.